Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The cost of a direct bus ticket from Tuxtla to Palenque was $12. The traveler would
still have to taxi out to Palenque's Mayan ruins and miss Agua Azul and Misol-Ha.
Tratamundo Tours offered all three sites and a drop-off in the town of Palenque for $28. I
signed up with Tratamundo. Rafael, the driver, said, "It will be a long day, 210 kilometers
and 210
topes
(speed bumps that slow traffic passing through villages)."
Palenque, once lost and buried in jungle overgrowth, was excavated in the 1940s. In 1952
Alberto Ruz Lhuillie, an archeologist, was curious about a slab floor inside the Temple
of Inscriptions atop the pyramid. He removed the floor and discovered a corbelled arched
tunnel. The tunnel led from the top of the pyramid to below a ground- level tomb. Here
he found the Tomb of Pakal sealed in a massive, richly carved stone sarcophagus.
A photo of Pakal's sarcophagus lid was used on the cover of Erich von Daniken's book,
Chariots of the Gods
. Von Daniken hypothesized that ancient astronauts helped build the
pyramids.
Inspired by von Daniken's description, I took my family to Palenque in June 1975. We
boarded a train in Mexico City and jostled to Palenque on a train filled with soldiers. It was
a twenty-four-hour ride. We were privileged to ride in old Pullman sleeper cars. The sol-
diers had to sleep on non-reclining, wooden-slatted seats. Now the roads are better, buses
excellent, and there are no more passenger trains.
On the day of our visit in 1975, my family of six accounted for most of the visitors who
came to see and explore Palenque. My children, then ages eight and six, and I climbed
the pyramid and descended the narrow, slippery, with seeping-water, staircase to Pakal's
tomb. Inscribed on the edge of the sarcophagus lid is the genealogy of Pakal, who lived
from 603 to 683 AD, ascended the throne in 615 and reigned for sixty-eight years.
Temples and courtyards were adorned with Mayan bas-reliefs, which told of the Mayan
view of the cosmos and a history of Palenque. The palace, with a square top, looked like
a Spanish church tower without a bell. Today, I was surprised to find Palenque well main-
tained, with a visitor's center, but some sections were roped off. The pyramid is now off
limits to climbers, and the entrance to Pakal's tomb is once again sealed.
At the end of the day, Tratamundo dropped me off in the town of Palenque. I was happy to
avoid the three-hour ride back to Tuxtla and the
topes
. It was late, but there was still light.
In the main square they were preparing for the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
